Tag: God’s peace
Week 25–Day 1–An Ancient Blessing
Scripture reading for June 15: Numbers 6:23-27 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, ‘The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.’ So shall they put My Name upon the people of Israel and I will bless them.”
God always desires to bless His people and He is the source of all blessing on earth and in heaven. The word for blessing means to be highly favored and showered with good gifts that come through covenant relationship with God the source of all blessing. One of the blessings of God include a good wife or husband that brings you joy and children. God blesses those who work with increase. Rain is a blessing and seeds multiplying thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold are blessings. He blesses our food and water so that we have nourishment and a safe food and health in our bodies. (Exodus 23:25-26) Flocks and herds multiply and give milk and meat and fruit trees and vineyards produce harvests. Peace is a blessing promised by Jesus Christ. (John 16:33)
God instructed Aaron and his sons in the priesthood to bless His people by speaking a blessing over them. Since God is not a man that He should lie, everything He commands is true and will come to pass. The first phrase of this blessing simply states that the Lord will bless you and in the process of that blessing He will keep you from all harm and provide all you need for life and godliness. The next phase of this blessing declares God’s smiling countenance lifted up over you. The idea is that God is rejoicing over you and smiling with joy, giving you His peace. This blessing was to put God’s Name on His people, marking them as objects of His extreme blessing in His forever family.
As responders who represent God’s blessing to those we are sent to, we can rejoice at God’s blessing of us as well as others. As you go to an incident, picture God lifted up over you and His smile radiating approval and love, giving you peace. Better yet, in the New Covenant, Jesus is present with us in the Holy Spirit indwelling us with His joy and peace. Let it flow from you to others by the smile on your face! Amen.
Our Father’s Smiling Face
Scripture Reading for February 12th: Numbers 5-8
Everyone loves a blessing! Blessing assures us of something good coming our way that costs us nothing and that sometimes is the opposite of what we really deserve. God’s grace is a blessing to us who really deserve His wrath and punishment. As a pastor, I have often spoken the Aaronic blessing found in Numbers 6:22-27 “The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace.” ‘ “So they will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them.”“
This was God telling His priests how to speak a blessing over God’s people. He wants them to experience His provision and protection. He wants them to enjoy peace with Him and with each other. He wants to be in their midst, enjoying their love and fellowship. He promises to provide for their needs cheerfully. He gives them His Name, rich with provision and power and comfort. He desires to forgive their sins and restore each one to His family. There is joy and peace in Father’s House seeing His smiling Face!
Think of someone with a smile that radiates love, warmth and acceptance. My mother had that kind of smile! God is telling us that His face is smiling at us and His grace is being poured out on us. When He is looking at us and smiling, we have peace that passes understanding. God is not angry with His people when they come to Him for forgiveness, fellowship and favors. This pleasing doesn’t come from our perfect behavior, but in spite of our sin and rebellion! Jesus Christ has pleased the Father by His perfect obedience. When we trust in Christ and believe on Him, we are given a gift of right standing and the smile of God’s face can be turned toward us! May the Lord bless and keep you today, may His face smile lovingly on you and your family! May His peace fill your lives! May His name be upon you!
Do you picture God the Father with a smile or a frown as He sees you? Have you responded to His invitation to come to Jesus? Do you know someone in your family or among your friends that needs a smile or blessing today? Let’s reflect God’s smile in our world!
Rejoice!
Scripture reading for September 7th: Philippians 4
Although in jail himself, Paul closed his letter with encouragement to the church to live in joy and rejoicing regardless of their circumstances. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
The church can rejoice because they are ‘in the Lord’. That alone is reason enough to rejoice. Paul believed that the Lord was near in two different ways. First, He was always present in His people and He was coming again soon for His people! This is why the church must not live in fear or anxiety! We must by prayer give all our worries to God and enjoy His peace guarding our hearts and minds.
Paul gave us two other reasons why he rejoiced and we should too. “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12-13) Christ is our strength to face every situation! We can live by faith in His promise! “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) God will meet all our needs because He owns all the riches of this universe! We can truly rejoice along with the Apostle and Philippians in God’s wonderful provision!
The Blessing of God
Scripture reading for February 12th: Numbers 5-8
Everybody wants to be blessed! The Amplified Bible’s expanded meaning of “to be blessed” is ” happy, to be envied, ” . Blessed people have good things coming their way. They enjoy an abundance and their lives are filled with joy and peace. This peace is beyond circumstances and permeates the soul and heart. In our reading for today, we find the Aaronic blessing that God instructed Aaron to speak over His people so that God could put His Name on them and bless them.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” “So they will put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:24-27)
One of the blessings mentioned here is being kept safe by the Lord. God is a refuge for His people and an ever-present help in time of trouble. (Psalm 46:1) The Lord is all-powerful and has the ability to stop any attack on His people. He promises protection to all who are set apart for Him.
A sign of God’s blessing is His smiling face! Isn’t it great to know that God can smile and is happy with you! One way that we can make God smile is to walk in faith. Faith is a prerequisite for pleasing God. (Hebrews 11:6) When our Father is happy with us His children, we know His grace will flow to us. Grace is His unmerited favor sending more than we deserve our way.
It is interesting that this blessing comes right after the description of the Nazirite vow that could be taken by one who voluntarily wanted to consecrate himself to the Lord for a set period of time. This Nazirite vow speaks of Jesus Christ, who as known as a Nazarene, for his original home town of Nazareth. Jesus voluntarily set Himself apart to fully obey God, His Father. Jesus offered Himself fully as a sin offering for all of us. Because of His faithfulness, and by faith in Him we can enjoy better than the Aaronic blessing! We have open access to God’s throne by Jesus’ blood. We can come before Him and know His smile of pleasure and His joy is in us. His gracious gift of eternal life is ours forever! We will see His face one day!